User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/My opinion on Fortnite, and its potential future
What's up my Shreks. For months now, I've been basically acting like this game doesn't exist and focusing on my retro reviews. But I think now is a perfect time to write about it since I needed some time to develop my thoughts. But anyways, here it is, the post I've been wanting to do for months now. In case you've been living under a rock for the past couple years, there's this relatively new genre of shooter games called "Battle Royale." It's based off an early 2000s Japanese film of the same name. In it, a class of misbehaving students are put into a deathmatch by their teacher in which they hunt each other down with weapons they find scattered about, all while constrained in one shrinking area. It's also similar to the Hunger Games, which changes this formula up a little bit. The Battle Royale subgenre is just that - a group of 100 or so players all get thrown into a single big map with distinct areas and attempt to kill everyone else on the server using materials they find. The stakes are higher because some kind death barrier is constantly closing in on the players, making the habitable map smaller with every passing couple of minutes. The genre originated with hacks to existing games, such as ARMA 2, or gamemodes such as Minecraft Hunger Games. However, the genre didn't become popular until the release of standalone games such as H1Z1 or Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. These games were popular, but lasted no longer than a few months. Then comes Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite was unveiled all the way back in 2011 as a cooperative zombie shooter borrowing elements from Minecraft and Left 4 Dead, made by Epic Games, a studio famous for Gears of War and Unreal Tournament. However, the game would soon enter a 6-year-long development hell. Eventually, though, Fortnite was released in 2017 to good reviews. But, this was only the beginning. The developers saw how popular Battle Royale shooters were becoming, so they thought, "Man, we want in on some of that!" So, a Battle Royale mode (with the totally extremely imaginative title "Fortnite Battle Royale") was quickly added on, and the original Fortnite was named "Save the World" to differentiate the gamemodes. From then on, this Battle Royale mode became something of a parasite - sucking millions of players from Minecraft, PUBG (before you say it, yes, I hate PUBG and I'm not complaining about Fortnite winning against it), and even its other gamemode (Save the World), and sucking the popularity of said games on the internet as a whole. This may be because of how remarkably simple the game is, and most importantly, it's free. It's a "right-place-right-time" kind of thing. The popularity continues to this very day, even with the new aptly-named "Playground" mode being released, which is basically the BR mode except everyone is on the same team and you have an hour to basically do whatever they want, since you respawn if you die. However, its dominance is seemingly being challenged by several AAA developers' additions of a BR mode, and another game called Apex Legends. Now with that surprisingly long history out of the way, let's talk about my thoughts on the game, and what I think is in store for the future, maybe even a section where I go all out and complain about a few things. Remember, this is my opinion, and I'm not passing this off as a completely objective look into the game. My Thoughts To talk about my thoughts on this game, I first need to address my opinion on multiplayer shooters. Personally, I don't enjoy multiplayer shooters very much, especially of the online variety. There was once I time when the only games I liked were shooters, but over the years, that slowly changed. There are a couple exceptions that I still do like, most notably Team Fortress 2, but I've even stopped playing that recently. Why? Well, I just find them kind of boring. Most of the time, their mechanics work well and matches can be fun to play, but I've lost the interest I once had in them. I guess it just boils down to this - they mostly look the same, play the same, and have the exact same gamemodes. After a while, they really have no depth other than picking a certain loadout and killing other players. I think this way mostly due to the over-saturation of multiplayer shooters in recent years. With that said, now let's talk about Fortnite Battle Royale. To put it bluntly, my opinion is basically the same. I don't find it fun because there's no depth to it other than shooting random players. Sure, you could say that the randomized weapons add depth, but I don't think it changes too much. In fact, I argue that it gets a bit worse due to the fact that there's currently a single map available in the game whereas most online shooters at least have a handful, which makes it repetitive in my eyes. Ok, If you've read my other reviews where I praise games such as Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine, you could say, "but those games have levels you visit several times, so by praising them, you're a hypocrite." Except that those games have you do something different upon visiting other missions. There may be recycled setpieces or the occasional repetition in those games. But that doesn't change the fact that they have several levels with 6-8 distinct missions, each having you do something different from the last, whereas in Fortnite you basically go into a single map over and over and just kill people. Those games are actually fun, too, so there's that. Also, speaking of the randomized weapons, it makes the game feel like a luck-based crapshoot. Even in the most basic of shooters, being able to kill other people who may be more familiar with the game than you can be a satisfying accomplishment because you used your own skill to overcome the challenge. However, whether or not you win in Fortnite depends on if the spot on the map you picked has good enough weapons and supplies. You may get absolute shit, while that other guy on the area next to you gets a shotgun, for example - which, in this game, are broken as hell because they literally kill people with a single shot. Some may argue that this adds to the fun of the experience because you have to try your best with what you're given to work with, and that the gambling aspect makes it more exciting. While I can kind of see how people believe this and will respect them for believeing so, I'm just not seeing what they're seeing. I personally hate luck-based gameplay, unless it's a bonus for you to earn extra lives, money, or whatever it is. The thing I hate most about the game itself has to be the absence of anything even remotely resembling a progression system. In games like Team Fortress 2, you can earn weapons in the form of random drops, which can cause you to customize new loadouts and devise new strategies for taking out enemies in the game's multiple gamemodes. Even in the most boring, repetitive shooters ever, such as Call of Duty, there's at least a level system that gives killing other players a purpose - to unlock new weapons which can be used to gain an advantage over others, incentivizing online play. In Fortnite, however, no such system exists. This makes the game feel absolutely pointless, as all you do is get on a match, kill a certain number of players with whatever you find, rinse, repeat. Sure it may be fun for an hour or two, however (for me at least), it gets boring very quickly. But, the game does have something some could call a "progression system." Frankly, though, it's equally as pointless as the butter stick , and the fact anybody likes this system is the biggest joke in the gaming community (besides Polygon). Oh yeah, I'm talking about : the cosmetics system and battle passes. Dear God, why. First off, before you bark down in the comments below, I don't like the cosmetics system in games like TF2 either, mainly because everything is through microtransactions. But Fortnite takes it too fucking far. With TF2, new cosmetics are only released with each new update, which only come out a few times a year mind you (including Halloween and Christmas limited edition weapons / cosmetics as well). However, in the case of Fortnite, cosmetics (aka "skins") seem to come out multiple times a week. The worst part, though - you can only get them via microtransactions. This usually entails spending ridiculous amounts of money for fake currency called "V-bucks" (which stands for "Virgin Bucks" HAHAHAHA.... I'll show myself out) to buy useless skins that change nothing gameplay-wise and only serve to boost one's own ego. As if spending a huge amount of money on useless skins in a crappy yet popular free-to-play game makes you magically better than everyone else. Sure, the cosmetics are optional, but they set yet another terrible business model that I hope to God no other company attempts in the near future, or ever again, for that matter. I don't know why paying for shit you could once unlock by simply inputting a cheat code is still a thing, because it's clear that people hate it (oh wait, greedy corporations, that's why). The battle pass system also sucks. Why? YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT TOO! Sure, TF2 did a similar thing with Mann vs. Machine, but that was a side gamemode that was actually pretty fun to play. The passes were also relatively inexpensive, so there's that, too. The thing that irks me the most is that Epic dares to say that this game is still in early access, yet they're charging ridiculous fees for everything. Same goes for the Save the World mode, which you also need to pay for, and is also under this whole "early access" bullshit. Epic : if the game is in early access, then why in God's name are you charging full price for cosmetics, battle passes, and the Save the World mode? Honestly, I don't think I'll ever know why, besides the fact that they like milking their preteen fanbase for money in one of the laziest ways possible. To be honest though, Fortnite BR isn't the worst game ever made, just a fairly shitty, forgettable one. While I might not personally like it, I can see how others will. Remember, If you like this game, that's perfectly fine. I also don't mind if you leave a comment disagreeing with me, because that's one aspect that makes life so great - the variety of opinions. So, to sum this all up, Fortnite is a run-of-the-mill, average game I don't find fun or engaging at all. It may be somewhat crappy as I said, but not enough for me to call it the worst game ever. One thing I will criticize harshly, though - the fanbase. You may think, "Well, you can say this about any game's online community, so you're stupid." To this I say : Have you even seen this game's fanbase? Try going on /r/FortNiteBR, for example, posting something even vaguely negative about the game, and then tell me how many comments you get of random dickheads telling you why you're wrong. Sure, that may not represent the whole fanbase, but it damn sure does give you an idea. Now for a message for the Fortnite fanbase. Keep in mind, this is ONLY directed at the especially biased fans. Seriously, you guys need to stop. Just because somebody doesn't like a game you practially worship does not mean you have to be a massive douche about it. People have differing opinions, so there are going to be people who don't like the game, or who get sick of seeing it everywhere. It's just a fact of life. Also, sorry to break it to you, Fortnite fans, but the main reason I don't like this game is not because I'm bad at the game. I hate it because the gameplay is repetitive, not because I'm shit at it. I like Super Mario Land quite a bit, but I absolutely suck at that game. God, and I thought overly-nostalgic classic Sonic fans were bad. Oh wait, and did I say "people who get sick of seeing it everywhere?" About that... One thing I'm truly sick of is how this game is so omnipresent. It appears everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Now, there's nothing wrong with something being popular and widespread, but Fortnite is on a whole new level. It's like Minecraft in 2012.... only three times worse. What is so special about this game that it warrants the extreme level of saturation in the current gaming market? All the game is is yet another bland Battle Royale game. Adding on to this point, it's pretty much the only game on YouTube and Twitch at the moment. All the clickbait videos produced by obnoxious, preteen-pandering schlock such as Ali-A, STAR_, and many other obscure channels never fail to make me roll my eyes when I catch a glimpse of them. If I'm to be completely blunt, I can't wait for this damn game and the whole BR subgenre to die, because once that happens, we can move to greener pastures and finally be free from this repetitive, normative, oversaturated, and overhyped subgenre of gaming. Oh wait, the game dying? Why does that sound familiar.... oh yeah, that's right! It's time to talk about my predictions for this game's future. Potential Future With my thoughts out of the way, let's talk about my predictions for the future of this game. I'm gonna keep this short, but typing this right now, I know it's gonna span several paragraphs. Whatever, let's just get into this. As of now, Fortnite is the most popular game in the world. I don't think anyone is arguing to the contrary. But, does it have a long shelf life in store for it? Will the game go on for many years, with the hype slowly dying, but still being played by many people like Minecraft did, or will it die before 2019 and become just yet another short-lived fad that nobody wants to remember, being replaced by something bigger? I think it will be a combination of both. Despite its popularity, I think the game's honeymoon period is slowly coming to an end, and its popularity is slowly beginning to reach its apex (hEyY THaT nAmE SOUnDs faMiLiaR). I think that by the time we reach November or December, the game will have seen a drop in popularity, even if by just a bit. This is hard to predict, though, since nothing big can come in the next few months and Fortnite may continue to grow, but there's no ruling out the posibility of something else hitting the market. Given the nature of trends that come and go these days, it will probably be yet another cringy fad, but who even knows at this point. However, the game will have some longevity. There's no doubt that some people will always play it, just like how many still play TF2, despite the fact it was released over a decade ago. This may not be true and the game might literally die, but I doubt that will happen for years. (UPDATE 3/25/19 : This game sort of seems to be on the way out. Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redeption both got BR gamemodes, and a brand new game Apex Legends is gaining players at a faster rate than Fortnite did right after its release. These all look like worthy challengers to Fortnite's oppressive dominance, and may just be the thing that frees us from this overhyped game. Apex seems like it might take over, which I wouldn't mind that much. Sure, it would become yet another annoying and oversaturated game, but anything, and I mean ANYTHING would be better than fucking Fortnite. I would much prefer it if the Battle Royale subgenre were to just die already, but if that can't happen, the I at least want Fortnite BR to get a run for its money. Here's to hoping that it slows the hell down.) (UPDATE 8/21/2019 : This is... this is bizarre. For a few months now, Fortnite seems to have finally reached its peak, and it looks like it's declining in popularity. The search term "Fortnite" has seen a decrease in usage, and people seem to care about the game less and less by the day. With Fortnite's decline, another game seems to be gaining popularity - a game called Minecraft, you may have heard of it. This may be because of the recent wave of nostalgia for the game (which I'm a part of, Minecraft was a huge game for me growing up), or that the game is better in every way. I'd say both. To be honest, I'm pretty happy that Fortnite is finally getting a run for its money, and by an older, much better game that was ironically once criticized for the same reasons Fortnite is now - it's way too popular, the fanbase of obnoxious 7-year-olds, etc. ....Oh yeah, and this obnoxious arrogant asshole sold out for a shittier version of Twitch, so yeah, there's that too. Seriously, good riddance, Fortnite. It still puzzles me to this day as to why this specific game got so damn popular.) Conclusion In conclusion, Fortnite is a repetitive, average game that I don't find that much fun to play. Many people love this game, and that's perfectly fine. To be honest, though, it's one of my personal least favorite games to play. I'm getting a sick of this game because I see it literally everywhere, and sometimes it's all people talk about when me or somebody else brings up gaming. I think that there's more to gaming than just Fortnite. This is only made worse by the fact that a mobile version exists. So, in addition to the console and PC versions, this makes it that anyone can play the game literally anywhere, as mobile gaming is a massive market. It's even coming to Nintendo Switch, just further cementing this belief in my mind. But who am I kidding, after all, it's just an opinion at the end of the day. Just like how Super Mario Sunshine is my favorite video game whereas most people seem to disagree, you have every right in the world to love Fortnite or consider it your favorite game. If you want to, leave your thoughts in the comments below. Do you agree with me and don't really find Fortnite that much fun, or do you disagree and find the game tons of fun? Remember, though - please don't be an absolute dickwad lol Anyways, goodbye my Shreks, have a good Fourth of July and I'll see you in the next post. Category:Blog posts